Friday, July 8, 2011

Miami, Florida Real Estate Market

The Miami, Florida real estate market continues to be strong on the buyers side, with a large amount of short sales and foreclosures coming forward every week. Prices have held steady in the last 6 months. In April 2011, 829 homes and condos sold with sales prices that were 89% of the asking price. The area’s average sales price was $510,000 and the median price was $280,000. Homes were staying on the market for 128 days on average.

There are currently 42,620 condos and homes for sale in the Miami-Dade County metropolitan area. In addition, inventory levels continue to rise with many new condos and developments being completed. These inventory levels should continue to rise for approximately another 12 months. In the past few years, trends show that January 2008 was the worst month in many years for sales in Miami area. Still, sales have increased about 12% since the beginning of 2011, even though they are still down 44% from this same time period a year ago. Pending sales, those units that are currently under contract have increased almost 100% since December 2007, however, this is still 1% lower than a year ago.

Miami continues to be a very attractive area for those looking for real estate as an investment, so long as the buyers can hold property for at least the next 3 to 5 years. Waterfront property especially will continue to be the best investment for those looking at real estate to increase in value. Resort areas such as Miami and Miami Beach are always in high demand. In the next few years, they will continue be highly sought by baby boomers, snowbirds, investors, celebrities, buyers and foreign buyers. Because the dollar is very weak in Europe, it is likely that there will be increased investment from foreign nationals. In addition, it is expected to see more investment from other foreign countries where there is political unrest and unstable economies. There are few major cities in the U.S. that have the appeal of the Miami area, and its location is easily accessible from South America and Europe. On average, property prices are low when compared to other major cities in the U.S. like New York, Washington D.C., Chicago, San Francisco, Los Angeles and San Diego.